Hamas heads multi-faction effort to challenge Palestinian Authority
Various major Palestinian factions are working together on a new platform to challenge Fatah's dominance of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh called June 19 for an agreement on a Palestinian strategy to overcome the internal division and build a national front that safeguards Palestinian principles and nurtures the resistance while managing the conflict with Israel and serving as a reference for the rebuilding of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Since 2007, the Palestinian territories have been reeling amid political division between the West Bank and Gaza. Efforts since then to achieve reconciliation and end the division have found no success.
Hamas aspires to bring together the Palestinian factions amid a national reconciliation deadlock and a failure to reform the PLO and in the wake of the May 2021 battle with Israel.
This year's PLO Central Council meeting was boycotted by several factions including Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Movement in February. The joint statement issued by Hamas, the PIJ and the PFLP on Feb. 9 is seen by some as the first step toward establishing a comprehensive national strategy that would end the Palestinian Authority's monopolization of the political decision-making process.
